


7 Reasons to Keep Going

by mysteriousStarlight



Series: 7 Reasons to keep going 'verse [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Age Difference Because Ghosts, Asexual Character, Car Accidents - Mentioned, Everyone is Queer, F/M, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Pansexual Character, Past Character Death, References to Depression, Trans Character, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-03-27 12:57:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13881339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysteriousStarlight/pseuds/mysteriousStarlight
Summary: Matthew had not been having a very pleasant day.  Although, really, if he were to think about it,  this was just the latest installment in a series of particularly unpleasant days, some worse than others.Based on a prompt I found on Tumblr:"A depressed guy moves into a haunted house with 7 demons, each corresponding to a deadly sin. But, they’re all trying to help him get back on his feet; Pride helps with self confidence, Lust helps him get laid, etc."





	1. Prologue: Swallow Your Pride

Matthew had not been having a very pleasant day. Although, really, if he were to think about it, this was just the latest installment in a series of particularly unpleasant days, some worse than others. It started with the car crash that still plagues his nightmares each evening. He had not been injured, but the crash had hurt both his mother and sister. His sister, Amelia, so energetic and excitable, and his kind, majestic Mother, Frances, were both killed almost instantly. He was at the very least grateful that his Father, Arthur, had been spared, albeit with a broken arm, and an equal amount of mourning and nightmares as Alfred. 

Matthew would admit that he had let the sadness and the lack of sleep get to him. He hardly showed up to work most days, and on the days which he did show up, he was slow and barely able to accomplish even the simplest on task, let alone get any actual work completed. Frankly, it was a surprise that he hadn’t already been let go. Since, even with how sympathetic his manager was to his situation, he was still costing the company more money than he was bringing in with his unreliability. 

Today though, was the day that changed many more things in his life. His landlord had shown up, informing him that he had til that evening to bring in his already long overdue rent or else he’d have to leave. The landlord was relatively calm about it, but Matthew still understood that it would be better not to push the man, and, since he had now money to pay with, he merely stated that he would be packed up and ready to leave before the end of the week. The landlord grumpily agreed, begrudgingly offering his assistance if needed.

“...Th-That won’t be necessary. Thank y-you, though.” Matthew said, not wanting to trouble the man any further. The man left quietly, thanking Matthew for his time. Matthew gently shut the door and turned towards his rickety old couch, flopping roughly down onto it. He ran a hand over his face and the through his hair. 

“What am I supposed to do now…?” He asked of himself, looking around at all of the clutter he needed to pack up and sort through in- he looked at the calendar on his phone- 3 days? … Why had he agreed to leave so quickly??? After a while of thought, and what might have been a brief nap, he decided that, while not the most dignified, the simplest thing to do in this situation was to ask for help. He pulled up his father’s contact, smiling sadly at the picture of both him and his mother together. It took a few rings, but his Father picked up eventually.   
“Hello there, Mattie.” called out the accented voice from the other side of his phone. “Having a… nice evening?” Arthur asked. Matthew looked at the clock. Oh. It was a bit late to be calling. Of course, by ‘A bit late’ he meant midnight. Whoops. He attempted to explain away why he was calling so late, but he choked, and short, rough sob overtaking his voice rendering it unusable. “Alright, so something’s wrong.” Arthur said, kindly taking the burden of conversation off of Matthew. “Do you want me to come over there?” He asked, sounding unsure if Matthew would even really respond. 

“Mhm.” he said, nodding despite that fact that Arthur couldn’t actually see him. He held back his cries for a moment, trying his best to keep it quiet, feeling guilty for pulling Arthur out of his house so late. 

“I’ll see you in ten minutes… Can you handle that by yourself, or would you prefer I stay on the line with you?” Arthur asked, the sound of a car engine starting

“Y-You can go.” Matthew said, his voice small, weak, shaking even, but enough to be heard, and for that he felt slightly proud of himself. 

“Alright, See you shortly.” Arthur said, before the sound of dial-tone could be heard on the line.


	2. Chapter 1: Moving in, Moving out.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No real notes to add here. 
> 
> I don't think any T.W. apply here, but let me know.

"So you want to tell me what's going on?" Arthur asked, closing the door behind Matthew with a gentle nudge. He had a tired look in his eyes, and was wrapped up in a large blue sweater, which, when Matthew had looked closer, had once belonged to Frances. 

Matthew went over to sit down on the couch, unaware of the fact that it had been moved, and plopped directly onto the floor. Arthur scurried over, helping him up.

"Sorry, lad. Your cousin Michelle had been helping me pack up a bit." He muttered, brushing off his son's back with his right hand.

"Pack up...? You don't mean that you're-"

"Afraid so. Couldn't stand to be in the old place after... You know. I haven't managed to sell it yet, unfortunately." He said, gesturing to a stack of papers that Matthew could only assume was paperwork involved in the sale of a house. 

"Well there goes that plan." He muttered under his breath. Arthur cocked an eyebrow at him, confusedly. "I'd planned on asking if I could move back in.". He stated, abashedly not looking his father in the eyes. 

"Why don't I just let you keep it?" His father stated simply. "It's hard for a place this old to sell, and that means it'll stay in the family." Matthew thought about it for a moment a nodded, a small tear coming to his eye. 

"Th-Thanks. I- Uh... I'm sorry you don't want to stay here." He said, with a mirthless smile. 

"Just hurt after a time, that's all. Figured it'd do me good to stop wallowing here." 

"I understand. Will you still visit on occasion?"

"If I'm feeling up to it, of course. You're all I'm got, Mattie..." Arthur said, pulling Matthew into a tight embrace. "And I refuse to let you go."


	3. Chapter 2: Burning Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to happen! (Finally)  
> New update in about 2 weeks.

It took a few days for Matthew to finish packing up all his clutter. He had not realized until this began just how much he had stockpiled in the two years of living in this apartment, but all in all, everything was packed up, and, at the moment, stacked in a tidy assortment of variously sized boxes in what would eventually be a spare bedroom. The only things he had managed to put away so far were the handful of perishable food item he had brought with him from his apartment fridge. 

He walked from the overcrowded second bedroom down to the kitchen, with a medium-sized box labelled ‘Pans + Silverware’ … He hoped that’s what was actually in the box, since he was starving, and didn’t have a clue where the microwave was in all of that. 

He hummed to himself a bit, rummaging through the box for a pan. He considered cleaning it for a moment, but then decided that it should have been clean when he packed it up, and, thusly, didn’t bother. He got the pan set up on the stove, and plucked the cheese from the refrigerator, all prepped to make a sandwich, before remembering that he didn’t have the bread in the kitchen yet. So, with yet another trip up the stairs for the box with the handful of non-perishables he had brought over, he made himself a quick grilled cheese sandwich. 

He pulled it out of the pan with a quick flip onto a paper towel, not bothering with plates. It looked a bit burnt on one edge, but he realized that it would be plenty good enough for now. He started picking up the bit of mess he’d made in making his sandwich… Re-wrapping the bread up, putting the cheese back into the fridge, etc. His mind wandered a bit. He wished that he had listened better when Francine had tried to teach him some basic cooking skills. He clearly was lacking in that area, and now… He frowned when it was brought to his attention that the opportunity to do so had slipped right through his fingers. He refused to let himself cry over this, and shut his eyes tightly to stave off the potential outpour. He went to pick up the pan, and put it in the sink to wash it when- 

“AH!” He hissed, his hand quickly recoiling away from the hot pan, and proceeded to drop it back on the stove. He rushed to the sink, running some cold water and placing his hand under the icy flow. He tended to his own hand. In the back of his mind he thought he could hear his mother doting on him like she used to. 

“Oh, petite, did you hurt yourself? Come, come, let me see.” She’d say, or something to that extent. Perhaps she’d give his hand a quick kiss, and proclaim that it was all better, like she used to… If he closed his eyes he could hear it even.

“Matthieu, you’ve got to take better care of yourself…” He heard, and he smiled weakly. He heard a sigh. “This is a pointless as trying to speak with Arthur, isn’t it?” He heard her say. He opened his eyes with a start - That was definitely not something he’d ever heard her say before. He looked around hurriedly, wondering where the noise was coming from. He wouldn’t imagine her saying something like that in this situation, and he definitely couldn’t have imagined her voice to be so clearly heard saying a phrase he’d never heard her actually speak. 

In fact, he couldn’t imagine his mother saying something like ‘This is pointless’ ever, dead or alive. He shrugged, turning off the cold water that was still running over his hand, which had now started to go numb from being under the icy water for so long. 

He silently ate the rest of his now room-temperature sandwich, not realizing until after it he was already finished with it that he hadn’t actually tasted any of it. He looked up at the clock, and, seeing that it was nearly midnight, went upstairs to get ready for bed. He changed into an old t-shirt and a pair of boxers to sleep in, and scoped out the second bedroom, trying to find a box that might have his toothbrush in it. He looked high and low, but when he couldn’t find it, simply rinsed his mouth out with some water, and headed to bed, deciding that finding his toiletries would be the first step he made the next day, towards getting his life back together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a note in the comments about any suggestions you have, I'd love to hear them.
> 
> There's also the issue of if I shipping. If you read the tags, you know I do intend to put Matthew/Gilbert in there, but I was wondering if it was something I should focus on, or if it should just be more of a bromance than an actual plot point. 
> 
> Let me know?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy!  
> Will update as soon as I can, but I make no promises as to exactly when. 
> 
> Comments feed my empty soul.


End file.
